11 May 2023
OSME raised interest at the Business Finland Data Economy program launch
On May 9th, Business Finland held the launch event for its new Data Economy program which encourages Finnish companies to develop international business based on the utilization and sharing of data with up to EUR 135 million in funding support. The program will continue through 2027 and accelerate challenging development projects related to the data economy.
The opening address from Ilona Lundström, Director General of the Innovations and Enterprise Financing Department at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment) set the stage for the afternoon. She began by summarizing the national and EU-level efforts devoted to the data economy. Data economy could provide Finland with a way to increase productivity and create a formula for growth, which is also the theme of one of the reform tables in the government formation talks. Nevertheless, it is important that Finnish companies influence the EU data regulations in Brussels.
The opening address was followed by presentations from three world-class experts in this field. Robin Gustafsson, Associate Professor of Strategic Management at the Aalto University, underlined that competing in the data economy means providing better value and higher productivity. Gustafsson suggested that for the data economy to thrive, national-level action is required on: 1) incentives and obligations for data sharing, 2) promoting the creation and operational possibilities of data intermediaries, 3) strengthening the role of the individual as owner of data, and 4) sector-specific approaches for data markets. The next speech was given by Mark Selby, Visiting Professor at the University of Surrey, who emphasized three aspects: 1) the opportunities of the data economy are enormous, 2) building on the Finnish characteristics: trust, talent, and tenacity, and 3) willingness to disrupt your business. When asked about how Finns could do better in the field of data economy, he replied that Finns are too modest and don’t know how good they really are. Jennifer Belissent, Data Strategist at Snowflake Inc., gave the final speech focusing on concrete case examples. The first part of the event concluded with a panel discussion (Kaisa Olkkonen, Sitra, Ilona Lundström, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, and Kari Klossner, Business Finland) which stressed the need to intensify the collaboration between different parties.
Next to the prolific line-up of interesting guest speakers and a panel discussion, the event also hosted Data Economy Ecosystem Pitches and a Networking Plaza, and OSME was present at both to invite new partners to join OSME and expand the ecosystem, creating OSME 2.0. OSME’s achievements and future raised great interest among the participating organizations, and these discussions will be continued during the upcoming weeks.